Disaster at Neverland

We learned that Snow world, including the Snow buster (their sledding ride) was closed. We have already argued with the Everland cashiers because of wrong change. It was stressful because of the language barrier so we decided to get in instead of asking for a refund. It’s probably our age; we’re really not interested in themed parks any more. And yes, this is where T-express can be found… one of the longest and the steepest wooden roller coaster in the world… yet didn’t bother riding it. We could have ridden it, but the waiting time is too long (I’m not sure if I’ve seen the correct queue for this ride).

We went to the European section of the park first, and looked for a place to eat,  we ended up in the Amsterdam area of the park and ate sausages and rice. :S

They probably closed snow world because it was late-winter, and the snows were already melting. We have no choice but to take some pictures with Snowbuster as the background. I could just imagine us being crazy like kids while sledding… that dream needs to wait a little longer.

Everland suits families. Its rides are made mostly for children. Inside is a mini-zoo which is quite enjoyable (especially for kids).

Overall, we rode 2 attractions, the lazer-then-shoot-the-monster-while-pretending-to-be-scared and the we’ll-show-that-you-have-been-turned-upside-down mirror ride. I think the mirror attraction was fascinating, except for the introduction part where 2 monster-figures are talking in Korean and we can’t understand a word.hehe. The lazer-shooting attraction was good too… but the waiting time was too much for the attraction itself. I guess Everland would be more enjoyable if we were able to sled in it. BTW, I guess the most interesting part as a Pinoy was the heater inside it. It’s alien-like and don’t resemble a heater at all.

After the ride we dropped by the souvenir store, where they have animal-inspired accessories. It was cute, but way too expensive.

So would I go back to Everland again? Probably never.

That’s it. It was our last day in Korea. It was an enjoyable winter-experience overall.

Another reason why I would like to re-create this day was, at that time, I haven’t seen the Korean drama Secret Garden. If I knew, I would have bought that ridiculous-looking hooded jacket/sweat shirt that has ears in it. I also saw a scarf used in that drama. I found it at the mall after Doota. And I’d probably look for the Creshire Cat and SG souvenirs at that time. And the SG mall is the Lotte mall in Dongdaemun.huhuhu… bitter much.

I was the only one who brought an umbrella, so Xty and Lyka bought one each. Japanesecake and Jeff brought their Universal Studio (SG) ponchos… Personally, they looked like walking blue mushrooms.hehehe

Since it’s raining, we ended up at nearby Dongdaemun malls. The rain and wind were harsh so we weren’t able to check out other shopping districts. Dongdaemun is famous for selling wholesale. A market besides Cheonggyecheon stream sells wholesale items at a very good price. The other shops here are mostly clothing and shoes. Since Koreans are vain (in a good way), I wasn’t surprised to see 2 floors worth of merchandise dedicated for men.

There’s not much to talk about our day as we were busy shopping for souvenirs and clothing.

Gyongbokgung to Namdaemun market via bus

Our next stop is Namdaemun, one of the shopping districts of Seoul. We were looking for a money changer but decided to eat first…tummy first.hehe. Alas! When we came back, they were all closed.

Namdaemun is a place to haggle and buy pasalubong (I saw teas and different types of biscuits here). Unfortunately, some of us don’t have enough money (and it’s already Saturday… no banks), so we didn’t shop. Besides, our shopping day was the following day. There were several interesting items here.

First, the siopao(bun + filling) stand where many lined up for the buns they’re selling (meat, veggies and mongo).

Next is one type of manju, a waffle-like bread with an egg inside. Lastly, the huge pancake with seafood, spring onions???, and other stuff mixed with it. This was similar to what we’ve eaten in China. We bought siopao and the manju. We looked for the pancake-like street food elsewhere but unable to find it…too bad.

We also indulged ourselves in these japanesecake like pancakes accross the siopao store.

Coffee Prince

This was the only Korean drama included in our itinerary; and was very difficult to find. The directions we found in the web were very difficult to navigate. It took us probably an hour before we finally found the coffee shop.

Inside and out, it looked exactly like Coffee Prince. For those who would like to visit, get off at Hongik University station exit 7 and look for the street Wausan-ro 29ga-gil. It’s located near the end of the street.

We were excited to find it that we immediately took pictures. However, the cafe attendant asked us to buy coffee first before taking pictures. And yes, this was the real set of the Coffee Prince… the veranda, the garage, the counter, the blackboard, and the infamous mural were all authentic… almost… they replaced the mural with a similar sticker.

What to expect with this coffee shop? –Coffee art and a very expensive coffee. Except for the coffee art, there’s nothing special with the coffee… it tasted like any other brewed coffee.

You can get these cute mugs with authentic coffee prince art for 10,000 won (400php). We actually forgot to buy one, due to our schedule.

Before leaving, I had a small argument with the waitress but I couldn’t remember what exactly we talked about…it had something to do with a wrong change.

For those who don’t know coffee prince, here’s a link of its parody (by Big Bang)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEifrbLK9cE

Olympic Park

Hongik University to Mongchontoseong
Next stop was Olympic Park. This was the venue of the 1988 summer Olympics. The park was huge so we opted to get off at Mongchontoseong were the torch and the World Peace park is located. Inside the station were the pictures of the next winter Olympics and the world-known skater, Kim Yu Na.

Mongchontoseong to Hyehwa
And that’s the end of our day.

More pictures on our album

Back at Backpacker Mr. Sea, we were told that we won’t be able to get inside the DMZ area without a guide. We could go there (Dorasan station, Dora observatory) but there were lots of areas that were probably off limits without a guide. We decided to think about it and skip the Dora/DMZ tour to another day.

I don’t know why but we almost always leave our hotel before lunch. It was very unlikely as I was used in starting our tours very early (as much as possible). Outside, we were surprised to see bouquets of flowers being sold and carried everywhere. We thought that it might be a public holiday. To find out, we followed the locals and ended up in a university (can’t remember what University that was). It turned out that it was graduation day. And just like in any typical korean drama, we learned that flowers were given to the graduates, male or female alike.

boquets at the streets of korea

Since we were already at that university. We decided to eat at a noodle house near the school. We all tried different noodles at the noodle place, since our first day of korean food experience was a bust. Verdict was Bulgogi was the best among our noodles.

us with our oversized noodle bowls.

noodle house

Suwon Hwaseong Fortress — errrr Korean Folk Village
Suwon station, exit 1, then bus no. 35
After a sumptuous brunch, we proceeded to Suwon station. This was a very long MRT ride; it probably took 45 mins from Hyehwa of line4. It was so cold that we bought a coffee from a vending machine inside the station. After alighting, we follow what was said in a tourist map which told us that we could board several buses. At the bus stop, we boarded bus 35. We were confused since the information said that we should get off at the 4th stop. Actually, what’s written there was a list of major bus stops (we were assuming since there were few bus stops written). In short, we get off not at the 4th stop, and we’re unsure where the Fortress was. We hopped on to bus 37, hoping that we would somehow find the fortress. Unfortunately we rode the wrong bus and ended up at Korean Folk Village.

korean folk village

Korean Folk Village

Bus No.37 take off at the end
We got here without intending to. We had already visited Namsangol Hanok Village so we just took some pictures at the entrance. For those who would like to experience the Old Korean Village, I would recommend this. They have actors/costumes and shows as far as I know.

Suwon Hwaseong Fortress/Pandalmun Gate
Bus No.37 from Korean Folk village
Honestly, I included this to our itineray because the wall/fortress itself looks like the Great wall of China in the pictures. Pandalmun Gate is the southern gate of the Hwaseong fortress. Unknowing, we learned that it was one of the sets of the famous Dang Jae Geum korean drama. But since we lost a lot of time getting lost and it closed early during winter, we were unable to enter. Too bad… Since we have lots of time, we just took some pictures and have a great time doing our jump shots. Well, I was the loser here.hehe

Gwangwhamun square, city hall

horse carriages with light displays in it.

Gwangwhamun square at night
Bus to Suwon station, then Suwon to City Hall station
We haven’t accomplished anything yet, so we decided to check out the sights near City hall. We hopped off at City Hall station and walk into Gwanghwamun Square. Gyeongbukgong palace is located at the end of the square. Later, we had a mini brisk-walking competition because of the extreme cold. Did I mention that this is the coldest day we had? If I remember correctly, it was the time when the temperature dropped to negative degree Celsius in some parts of South Korea.

King Sejong statue

King Sejong statue
This statue is located at Gwanghwamun square. From research, King Sejong established Hangul, the Korean alphabet.

Gyeongbukgung palace gate at night

What can I say, Gyeongbukgung palace at night is a sight to behold. If you’re in the area at night take a picture of it. This is actually Korea’s version of the forbidden City… But of course, China is way ahead.

Gyeongbukgung palace

Haechi character
Haechi is the official mascot of Seoul. We found his statue while walking to Cheongyeocheon stream.

jeff

xty

Cheonggyecheon stream at night
When we arrive, there is an ongoing shooting. We’d never know, but we might have been caught on camera and was an extra in one of their films.hehe.

we happened to catch a film shooting at the area.

Cheongyecheon stream is another Korean marvel. At night, you’ll find it lighted. It has tons of lights. They have restored it in such a way that you’d never notice that it was once a slum area. If you have lots of free time, then walking from Dongdaemun to Gwangwhamun via Chongyecheon is probably worth it (6kms).

japanesecake at the stream

On the area, we found a wishing “hole”(?). Each of us made our wish, were only japanesecake made her coin to the hole. Unfortunately, due to her excitement one of her gloves fell at the stream. A price to pay for a big wish. hehe

the wishing area

That’s it.. the coldest day we had during our trip.

us

More pictures on our album

dongdaemun korea

Our flight to Incheon was at 130am(GMT+8) arriving at 630am(GMT+9). As we arrived, we immediately felt the chill in the air. It probably distracted me as I wasn’t able to distinguish the male and female toilet. It was funny and embarassing as one Korean inside the toilet said “Oh yeah!” Oh well, I guess that’s a start of our misadventures. hehe

the gang arriving at the hotel

There is an airport limo bus stop near our hotel but we opted to take the AREX (airport express train). It’s great that the line from Gimpo airport to Seoul station was opened last December 2010. Otherwise, we need to transfer to lots of metro lines to arrive at our station, Hyehwa of line 4. Normal price to Seoul station is KRW3700. It is cheaper if you use T-money. Seoul station is one of the landmarks of Seoul. We have stepped on our first tour, as this is one of the modern architectures Seoul has to offer.

We arrived at our hotel, Backpacker Mr.Sea without any incidents. The manager (I forgot the name) was friendly and let us checked in although it was only 9am. After resting a bit and deciding where to go for the day, we start on our tour.

Dongdaemun shopping district

Dongdaemun station, lines 1 and 4 exit 4

Our first stop is Dongdaemun shopping district, which is 1 station away from our hotel. We don’t have any KRW so we decided to find a money changer here. We went inside Doota mall and have our lunch. We really thought that our first meal in Seoul was a disaster. They looked so good in the pictures, but I guess Filipinos are not really used to the spicy food of the Koreans. One thing we noticed is that everything is self-service. You get your tray/food then return it to a designated place.

One area of the Cheongyecheon stream and Heunginjimun or the East gate can be found in Dongdaemun. Also, Dongdaemun is famous for their wholesale markets.

dongdaemun

Namsangol hanok village

Chungmuro station, lines 3 and 4 exit 3

admission: free

Our next stop is supposedly the Namsan or the N tower. But since there is a Hanok or traditional korean village in that area, we chose to stop there first. Namsangol hanok village is quite small, and peaceful. There were relics inside the houses but unfortunately there were no actors wearing traditional korean clothes. It was a great experience nonetheless. I saw upclose my first snow here.haha We walked around it hoping to find a possible entrance to the N tower. The tower was too far, so we opted out and just ask the tourism office how to get there. While walking we found a time capsule where some relics are buried and is scheduled to be opened later in 2394.

N tower/ Namsan Tower / Seoul tower

Yellow bus 2 or 5, Namsan tower station

English is not a primary language in Korea so it’s difficult to communicate even if we are already in the tourism office. At least they managed to show us the way to N tower, which is by bus. Namsan is actually huge and have lots of entry points. There is a cable car going to the N tower but we opted not to go there since it is just a short cable car ride. The base of the N tower is where the numerous locks placed by lovers are located. There is also a laser light show on the tower at night.

Myeongdong

Yellow bus 5 to Myeongdong

We were supposedly be going to the City Hall area, have dinner and visit Yongyecheon stream at night. But it was too cold, so we ended up going to Myeongdong instead. We have dinner, which is way better than our lunch. We visit the night market. This is the only night market we’d had during our stay in South Korea.

Tips and tricks:

Buy T-Money card: this is their transportation card. Cheapest fare is 900KRW for single-journey tickets. But when you buy T-money, it will automatically adjust your fare according to the distance travelled.

More pictures on our gallery